A new gov’t report on the economy gave our nation’s talking heads a lot to talk about:Lamees El Hadidi spoke with the head of the Information and Decision Support Center Osama El Gohary about a report the center issued that laid out some ambitious targets for the Egyptian economy to reach by 2030 (watch, runtime: (watch, runtime: 20:34).

** In case you missed it, we’ve got a rundown of the report in the newswell, above.

The government doesn’t want to only securitize Suez Canal revenues: El Gohary explained that the report’s idea of securitizing 20-25% of the country’s USD revenues is not related only to the Suez Canal revenues, but rather to the country’s various dollar revenues, which may include remittances from Egyptians abroad — a practice that exists in other countries.

Lamees does not seem convinced: “The report is very ambitious, outlining unrealistic numbers, and doesn’tgive any indication as to how these numbers and goals will be reached … the bit on the exchange [rate] was comedic,” Lamees said during a conversation with economist Medhat Nafei on Saturday (watch, runtime: 3:04). Nafei told Lamees that “I don’t fully agree with the plan to [securitize 20-25% of the government’s USD revenues]. It will not solve the problem of our FX shortage, but simply push it back to future years.

2024 “may be the most difficult for us economically…whether for people’s pockets, lives, or the government itself,” due to foreign debts and the cost of servicing them for this year, El Hadidi said on her show. El Hadidi also contrasted the prime minister’s previous description of the USD crisis as “transient” with his more recent statements that the crisis is expected to continue until mid-2025.

Adib had a very Adib-esque suggestion of his own: Amr Adib said that Egypt needs “an economic war council that provides the president with the best advice” in light of economic difficulties we face (watch, runtime: 22:33).

Adib and El Hadidi confront anti-Syrian campaigns: Amr Adib and Lamees El Hadidi denounced social media campaigns supporting boycotts of local Syrian restaurants and companies. The economic crisis does not justify the abuse of Syrian residents — who number some 1.5 mn people in Egypt and contribute to the development of the local economy — the two presenters said, adding that no one would accept the racist treatment of any of the 10 mn Egyptians who live and work abroad, (watch, runtime: 14:34) and (watch, runtime: 5:32).

90% of Gaza’s population has been subjected to forced displacement, Mohamed Sherdy said on Al Hayah Al Youm, citing UNRWA data, (watch, runtime: 1:59). “Where will these people go after the end of the war,” Adib said on El Hekaya while discussing how Arab countries could rebuild Gaza (watch, runtime: 2:27).

Also on the airwaves last night:

  • President Abdel Fattah El Sisi attended Christmas Mass at the new capital’sCathedral of the Nativity, “an important signal that we are one country, one homeland without distinction between Muslims and Christians,” El Hadidi said on Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 0:54). Masa’a DMC also had the story (watch, runtime: 5:02).
  • The nation’s hosts also discussed El Sisi’s visit to the new capital’s Olympic City on Friday to meet with the national football team at the 90k spectator Misr Stadium. The team is preparing to head to Côte d'Ivoire to compete in the African Nations Championship, which starts next Saturday. Masa’a DMC had the story (watch, runtime: 15:21).
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